The Stunning Medusa Appears, Lu Heng: Queen, Shall We Make a Deal?

She sat down at one side of the stone platform, coiling her snake tail into a circle and setting the wine jar in front of her.

"Just wait. Holy City isn't too far from here. If the Queen comes personally, at most it'll take an hour."

Lu Heng sat across from her and accepted the clay bowl.

Yue Mei broke the seal on the wine jar and poured each of them a bowl. The wine was cloudy and carried a sharp, spicy scent.

"Scorpion Tail Wine, brewed by the Snake-People Tribe. It's strong. You humans might not be used to it."

Lu Heng lifted the bowl and sniffed it. Sure enough, it was pungent.

He took a sip. The liquor burned hotly down his throat and into his stomach, then turned into a warm current that spread through his body.

"Not bad."

Seeing that his expression did not change, Yue Mei lifted her own bowl and took a drink as well.

The two sat across the stone platform, beneath the desert's star-filled sky.

Moonlight spilled across the Black Stone pavement of the square, casting the shadows of one seated figure and one coiled figure.

It was a strange scene.

A human youth and a Snake-People commander drinking on Snake-People territory while waiting for the Queen. No one would believe it if they heard about it.

After a brief silence, Yue Mei spoke first.

"Lu Heng, where are you from?"

"Jia Ma Empire."

Yue Mei nodded. The Jia Ma Empire lay north of the desert, and the Snake-People Tribe had dealt with it for centuries.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

The wine in Yue Mei's bowl nearly spilled out.

"Sixteen?"

"Mm."

Yue Mei stared at Lu Heng's face, examining him carefully for several breaths.

He really was young. His features were